Relational databases are databases that are organized and accessed according to the relationships between data items without the need for any consideration of physical orientation and relationship. Relationships between data items are generally expressed as tables having rows and columns, which may be interconnected. Data is stored in the tables so that the data can be reorganized and accessed in different ways without having to reorganize the database tables.
The structured query language (“SQL”) is the most popular computer language used to create, modify, and retrieve data from relational database management systems. Using SQL, a skilled user can retrieve data from a database, create databases and database objects, add data, modify existing data, and perform other, more complex functions. Although SQL is a standard, many database products support SQL with proprietary extensions to the language format.
SQL commands can be used to interactively work with a database or can be utilized programmatically to interface with a database. For example, in the latter scenario, a SQL application programming interface (“API”) can provide an interfaces through which programs can execute SQL queries on a database. Such an API may be used, for instance, by a World Wide Web (“WWW” or “Web”) page for querying a backend database and providing the results of the query on the Web page.
Previous SQL APIs have been very complicated and difficult to use. Moreover, these APIs have not provided functionality for easily allowing a keyword-based search to be performed on a database, such as those that are so common today in application programs and on Web pages. The complexity and limitations of previous SQL APIs can be extremely frustrating for a developer trying to create a Web page or application program that executes even a simple keyword-based search query against a backend relational database.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is provided.